It’s Friday night and you’re out of ideas. Well, here’s one. You could rent the newly released movie, The Blind Side, and make a meal fit for tailgating to accompany it.

The Blind Side, based on Michael Lewis’ book, tells the true, heart-warming story of Michael Oher, a homeless African-American teenager who gets taken in by a well-to-do white family. Sandra Bullock plays Leigh Anne Touhy, the strong-willed but kind woman who adopts Michael (played by Quinton Aaron) and slowly unpeels his layers to reveal his kind and gentle demeanor.

Michael’s focus in life changes from day-to-day survival to school work and football practice as the Touhy family helps him work toward a football scholarship to college. The supporting cast includes country star Tim McGraw as Mr. Touhy, Jae Head as little brother SJ Touhy, and Kathy Bates as Michael’s tutor. Currently, Michael Oher is an NFL player for the Baltimore Ravens.

A nice variety of tailgating food would make a delicious accompaniment to this football-oriented movie. This meal is fairly easy to prepare, very delicious and surprisingly healthy.

 Main dish: Barbecue chicken sandwiches, 4 servings

Recipe from Eatingwell.com

Ingredients: 

~ 2 cups shredded cooked chicken

~ 1 cup shredded carrots

~ 8 tablespoons barbecue sauce

~ 8 teaspoons light ranch dressing

~ 4 small whole-wheat sandwich buns

~ 4 leaves romaine lettuce

Preparation:

Combine chicken, carrots and barbecue sauce in a bowl. Spread ranch dressing on the bun. Top with the chicken mixture and lettuce.

Nutrition per serving: 323 calories; 8 g fat (1 g sat, 2 g mono); 62 mg cholesterol; 37 g carbohydrates; 26 g protein; 4 g fiber; 729 mg sodium; 456 mg potassium.

 Side Dish: Broccoli-Bacon Salad, 6 servings

Recipe from Eatingwell.com

Ingredients:

~ 1 clove garlic, minced

~ ¼ cup low-fat mayonnaise

~ ¼ cup reduced-fat sour cream

~ 2 teaspoons cider vinegar

~ 1 teaspoon sugar

~ 4 cups finely chopped broccoli crowns

~ 1 8-ounce can sliced water chestnuts, rinsed and chopped

~ 3 slices cooked bacon, crumbled

~ 3 tablespoons dried cranberries

~ Freshly ground pepper to taste

Preparation:

Whisk garlic, mayonnaise, sour cream, vinegar and sugar in a large bowl. Add broccoli, water chestnuts, bacon, cranberries and pepper; stir to coat with the dressing.

Nutrition per serving: 89 calories; 4 g fat (1 g sat, 1 g mono); 8 mg cholesterol; 12 g carbohydrates; 4 g protein; 3 g fiber; 200 mg sodium; 193 mg potassium.

 Dessert: Chocolate-Covered Brownie Bites, Makes 64 Brownie Bites

Recipe from Eatingwell.com

Ingredients:

~ 1 8-inch-square pan chilled brownies, cut into 1-inch squares

~ 1 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips, melted (see Tip)

Preparation:

Dip half of each brownie square in melted chocolate, then place on a baking sheet lined with parchment or wax paper. (Reheat chocolate, as needed, to keep it melted.) Refrigerate until the chocolate is set, about 30 minutes.

Tip: To melt chocolate, microwave on medium for 1 minute. Stir, then continue microwaving on medium, stirring every 20 seconds, until melted. Or place chocolate in the top of a double boiler over hot, but not boiling, water. Stir until melted.

Nutrition Per brownie bite: 38 calories; 2 g fat (1 g sat); 4 mg cholesterol; 6 g added sugars; 1 g protein; 6 mg sodium; 21 mg potassium.

Lately, I have been heavily under the spell of folk, indie rock. This is a big step for me in my musical maturity because I am very narrow-minded in my taste of music. With this being said, I am in love with Wild Sweet Orange and they have easily become one of my favorite bands.

There is something about the way lead singer Preston Lovinggood puts his words around the verses and choruses that seems perfect. His voice ranges from soft spoken, smooth, soothing melodies to angst filled, aggressive tones within several seconds (Tilt). Lovinggood is brutally honest about American culture and suburban childhood throughout the album, when he sings, “oh did they think we wouldn’t grow up / did they think we couldn’t throw back up that sour milk they been pouring down out throats” (Sour Milk).

For the most part, Wild Sweet Orange doesn’t get aggressive via heavy guitar tones or loud drum parts. However, I may note that House of Regret and Either/Or fuse together simple rhythms and complex lead guitar lines, while successfully incorporating perfect lyrics and metaphors. The lead guitar riff in Either/Or will stick in your head for days upon end (not to mention the lyrics).

While most songs include all of the basic band instruments, several tracks (Sour Milk, Night Terrors, and Land of No Return) are stripped down to acoustic guitar and vocals. Lovinggood also does a spectacular job of incorporates religious references into the album as well as on the initial track Ten Dead Dogs, where he asks, “And oh my God, is this really what you want? / Would you tell us if it’s not? / and could you rewrite the plot and come and get us?” 

We Have Cause to Be Uneasy is one of the most solid albums of the decade. It still has not lost my attention and has not left my CD player. The more I dig into the lyrical content and the soft spoken melodies, the more I appreciate the beauty that is Wild Sweet Orange.  

If you had to rate your appearance on a scale from one to ten, what would you rate yourself? Dealing with your appearance as being a four or an eight can be tricky, but even trickier is thinking that you can only date someone two points higher than you or less. She’s out of My League is all about the one in a billion chance when a solid ten dates a weak five.

Every comedy that has come out in the past couple of years has either been a great success or a huge flop. But even though She’s out of My League wasn’t a huge box office success or a success with the critics, I still think it’s one of the better comedy movies out there. Whether it was the funny lines, situational humor or even just awkward banter, I found myself laughing out loud throughout most of the movie. This movie is like Step Brothers in the fact that it’s just a conversational movie; it’s not the same type of humor in any sense, but many of the better parts come from Kirk (Jay Baruchel) just hanging out with his friends.

But this movie isn’t perfect; the storyline is the same as every other romantic comedy out there and therefore is extremely predictable. Many of the small parts were poorly cast, especially Marnie as Lindsay Sloane, who played her part of the annoying ex-girlfriend a little too well and a little too annoyingly. Also, in many parts you could tell the actors and writers were trying way too hard just to get a laugh.

Kirk is a below-average guy. He has below-average looks, a below-average job and really just a below-average life. Luckily, he finds a woman’s cell phone and she’s so grateful to get it back, she invites him out. Molly (Alice Eve) is successful, rich and one of the most attractive girls alive, but she decides to play it safe and date a guy who won’t treat her poorly, which is where Kirk comes in. Through a mess of family and friends, Kirk and Molly have to go through a lot of trouble just to be together. And with everyone telling him they don’t belong together, Kirk finds himself doubting the relationship due to his self-consciousness issues.

One of the criticisms of She’s out of My League is the use of vulgarity throughout the film. Well, to critique the critics, the film is rated R; what did they expect? Even if it wasn’t, with the way our society has been accustomed to sex, alcohol and profanity, there’s nothing people haven’t heard or seen. If you flip through the radio you’ll hear songs about alcohol or drugs that are worse than anything you’ll see in this movie. And profanity has even become second-nature in the USA today. Honestly, I’ve heard more vulgar things come out of a nine year old at McDonalds than from She’s out of My League.

She’s out of My League doesn’t break any barriers in the comedic world. It doesn’t give insight to relationships or how to fix your life; but it is a truly funny movie and these days that’s hard to find. And what I do find to be special about this movie is that it’s a great date movie but also a movie to just watch with your friends. She’s out of My League won’t change your life, but it will give you some great quotes that will keep you laughing for a very long time.

Four Year Strong is a band for underdogs.  They’ve been playing music together since 2001, but it wasn’t until six years later that they finally found themselves releasing their breakthrough album Rise or Die Trying on a solid record label.  And then, after years of touring and promotion through the likes of MySpace and PureVolume, people finally started paying attention. 

Since then, they’ve experienced a whirlwind of success, jumping from Pete Wentz’ Decaydance Records to Universal Motown, releasing a ’90s cover album and drawing huge crowds at the Vans Warped Tour and even Australia’s Soundwave festival.  On the heels of these accomplishments, the band released their major label debut Enemy of the World earlier this month, and it is anything but disappointing.

The band has ditched much of the playful heaviness heard on Rise or Die Trying, which is a good thing – goofy, synth-filled breakdowns get old pretty fast.  In its place, they’ve substituted real heaviness, with wonderful results.  Nineteen with Neck Tatz (yes, they’re still exercising their goofiness in their song titles) is one of the heaviest, no-nonsense songs they’ve ever written, and the title track features an intensity never before heard from Four Year Strong.

But don’t fear, they haven’t forgotten how to write a good hook.  Wasting Time (Eternal Summer) and Find My Way Back are the band’s first big potential radio hits, and Flannel is the Color of My Energy is the perfect mix of every musical element Four Year Strong have come to be known for – synth, blistering drums, gang vocals, a catchy chorus and a breakdown.

The lyrics aren’t spectacular, but pop-punk music has never been known for its lyrics.  That being said, not every song on this album is about relationships, and even the ones that are – see This Body Pays the Bill$ – are well-written and fun.  And on One Step at a Time, for the first time, the band attempts to drop their lyrical lightheartedness completely and tackle a serious topic – the death of a loved one.  It works, and the song is easily one of the best on the album.

One of the most memorable concerts I ever attended was at The Attic, a day after Thanksgiving in 2006.  I was a nerdy little freshman who couldn’t convince any of his friends to go with him to see this no-name band called Four Year Strong the day after a big holiday.  They weren’t supposed to start playing until around 9 o’clock, but they were in the middle of their set when I walked in at 8:45.  The openers had canceled.  There were fifteen people inside, 20 at the absolute most.  None of them were standing in front of the stage; they were all sitting or leaning against the wall at the side of the room. 

I approached a couple guys from the band after they had finished playing, expecting them to be bummed out.  I would’ve been, had I been in their position.  They’re from Massachusetts, so they had surely missed out on Thanksgiving with their families and friends, and for what?  For a show where people wouldn’t even move up to the stage when they started playing?  But no – “a show’s a show,” said one of their vocalists with a little shrug.  He checked at their merch table to see if they’d sold anything.  He reported back – one T-shirt and one CD.  I held them both.  He called their bassist over to say hi and thanked me for coming out to see them, and then they packed up and shipped out. 

I was giddy.  I knew I had just discovered something big, and that even if people didn’t know the name Four Year Strong yet, it would only be a matter of time. With Enemy of the World, it looks like their time has finally arrived.

Now imagine how scary it would be if your new barber tried to kill you.

That’s the key plot element in Sweeney Todd, a musical that has a long and rich history. The String of Pearls first debuted on stage in 1847. However, in 1865 the play was rewritten and was renamed Sweeney Todd, the Barber of Fleet Street: or the String of Pearls, and the name Sweeney Todd stuck. The first Sweeney Todd films were created in 1926 and 1928, but in recent years, most of its popularity comes from the movie that came out in 2007 starring Johnny Depp.

This year, Kettering Fairmont High School has decided to take on the challenge of putting on this unusual musical. It will be presented at in the Kettering Fairmont High School Auditorium on April 22-24. It will be presented at 7 at night the first two shows and 2 in the afternoon for the final performance.

Sweeney Todd’s director and choir director Brody McDonald thinks the current reputation of the film presents a a challenge for the Fairmont cast and crew. “One of the hardest things is getting the kids out of the mentality of the movie,” he said. “Yeah, it’s going to be similar, but we obviously can’t do all the same things.”

McDonald thinks Fairmont students are doing well managing the production. “It’s an extremely challenging musical, and the cast is handling it very well. Most high schools can’t pull Sweeney Todd off,” he said.

In the past years, Fairmont has staged productions such as Guys and Dolls and Thoroughly Modern Millie. However, Sweeney Todd, a musical horror story, takes Fairmont to new and uncharted territories.

Senior Matt Letteri, who is playing Judge Turpin, the main antagonist in this year’s musical, thinks the transition to this new genre will show how diverse the cast is capable of being. “We’re really excited for the change into horror; we think it’ll work out extremely well. And we’re already really adapted to it,” he said.

Letteri also has to change his character for the play. “To be Judge Turpin, I have to be really creepy – which I think is one of my strong points,” he said.

But playing the creepy Judge Turpin isn’t the only challenge Letteri is facing in Sweeney Todd. “The biggest obstacle while rehearsing has been dealing with the complexity of the music,” he said.

Sophomore Matt Ebersbach said the time he’s spent practicing for the musical has been amazing. “I have really enjoyed working with the rest of the cast and on songs that show off all of our talent to each other,” he said.

Ebersbach can’t wait for the debut of Fairmont’s musical. “People should come see Sweeney Todd so that they can witness one of the greatest productions in school history, starring the legendary Bobby Symes,” he said.

Symes plays Sweeney Todd, the maniac barber who kills his customers. “The most challenging aspect of the musical is learning how to become him and key into his emotions. I basically have to learn to become a psycho who kills people, which is extremely difficult,” he said.

There is a lot of characterization that the cast has to deal with while playing their roles. “It’s hard for young people to tap in to the emotional level their characters have,” McDonald said. “For instance, Bobby Symes is 18, and his character is supposed to have been in prison 15 years. He can’t even remember 15 years.”

Because he’s the lead, Symes feels even more anxiety than he normally would while rehearsing. “I’m already feeling stressed while rehearsing, but I would say that a lot more stress comes from being the lead. Because I’m Sweeney Todd, I feel like there’s a lot resting on my shoulders,” he said.

And due to all the stress, Symes says he’s relieved to be working with such a great cast. “Everyone definitely brings out the best in me. I feel privileged just to be working with everyone,” he said.

The entire cast is extremely excited for the play to begin. “It’s wonderful because … it’s going to be awesome. Everything’s coming along nicely, and when the play debuts, it’s going to be the best night of my life,” Letteri said.

McDonald thinks the musical is traditionally “under attended because it’s not something the students think they’ll like.”  However, he thinks all that should change this spring. “If anyone comes to see the musical, this is the year. The story of Sweeney Todd will be cleaned up a little bit, but it’s still the same story. We’re going to have the orchestra on stage instead, an immense chorus, the lead is phenomenal and the stage design is incredible,” he said. “It’s going to be the best musical we’ve put on in 10 years.”

Tickets will be on sale through the month of April in the music office or at the door when the show performs. The cost is $8 for adults and $6 for students and senior citizens. Seniors with the Seniors Are Special pass can get in free.

Twitter.com was launched in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, who decided on the site’s now-famous name after finding the word “twitter” while searching for synonyms for the word “twitch.” Dorsey says he wanted the service’s name to capture “the physical sensation that you’re buzzing your friend’s pocket.”

The site is based around users sending out “tweets,” messages of up to 140 characters, which appear on the user’s profile page and are also sent out to his or her subscribers, or “followers.” Users can publish and receive these messages through Twitter’s web site, by text messages from cell phones, or by other external applications for computers or smart phones.

While not currently as trendy among teenagers as MySpace or Facebook, Twitter’s popularity has slowly but steadily begun to spill into the hallways of Fairmont.  Senior Mia Maddox uses Twitter, but she doesn’t take the service quite as seriously as others.

“I know it’s pointless, but the small idea that someone could read over some lame comment I said about my day, and then start to follow me, seems fascinating,” said Maddox, whose favorite Twitter users to follow are Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, creators of the comedy television series Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!

Celebrities flock to Twitter

Many celebrities have taken to Twitter in the past few years, using it to communicate with the public on an easy and large-scale basis. From President Barack Obama boosting his presidential campaign, to Miley Cyrus dishing out music recommendations, celebrities communicating with the masses has become one of Twitter’s most popular uses.

In February, movie director Kevin Smith was asked to exit a Southwest Airlines flight before takeoff due to a “safety risk” resulting from his weight. He had purchased two seats in accordance to the airline’s “customers of size” policy, but then chose to board an earlier flight instead, which had only a single open seat. Smith, who boasts more than a million and a half followers on Twitter, immediately lashed out at Southwest Airlines, directing multiple unhappy tweets at the airline’s own Twitter account. “Dear @SouthwestAir – I know I’m fat, but was Captain Leysath really justified in throwing me off a flight for which I was already seated?” said Smith’s first tweet regarding the incident.

Southwest Airlines addressed Smith’s concerns in a timely fashion – through Twitter. He turned down their offer to give him a $100 coupon as compensation with a dissatisfied, profanity-laced tweet.

Smith was able to board a later flight, during which he posted a picture of himself after being seated along with a tweet saying, “Hey @SouthwestAir look how fat I am on your plane!  Quick!  Throw me off!”

Twitter as a launch pad

Twitter isn’t just used by celebrities to update the masses on their personal lives, however. As several events have proved, Twitter can act as a springboard for much greater things.

On Feb.12, 2009, more than 200 cities across the globe took part in the first international Twestival. The event gathered Twitter users in big cities to raise money for charity:water, an nonprofit organization providing developing countries with clean and safe water sources. The event raised $250,000, all of which went to charity:water’s projects, and in April 2009, the first Twestival-funded well was drilled in Ethiopia.  Those attending the Twestival in Cleveland raised $1,440, and Twitter users in Columbus contributed $60.

In June 2009, the official results of the Iranian presidential election sparked huge controversy and allegations of fraud in the volatile nation. Iranians began protesting immediately, but the government suppressed many forms of protest, including certain online mediums of communication. The Iranian government did not suppress Twitter, however – and protesters flocked to it.

Twitter’s high accessibility through mobile devices, its speed and ease of use, and its price – free – made it a convenient and popular choice for suppressed protesters.  Outraged Iranians broadcasted their anger at being censored by the government, and they also relayed news of the violence taking place in their country to the rest of the world, in real time. While it was impossible to confirm the absolute truth of many of these tweets, they were some of the only instances of citizen communication during this unstable time period in Iran, making Twitter a much more valuable tool than most people ever imagined it would be.

The future of Twitter

In our fast-paced world, many popular technologies and Internet phenomena quickly turn into fads and then fade into oblivion. It’s unclear as of yet whether Twitter will join these ranks or not, but many are hopeful for the future of Twitter.

TIME.com published an article in 2009 titled “10 Ways Twitter Will Change American Business,” written by 24/7 Wall St. The article examines the possibilities for businesses, both local and national, to utilize the simple model of Twitter to reach out to potential customers. Already, companies including Whole Foods, Dell, Jet Blue and Starbucks have stepped into the Twitter universe.

Maddox also thinks Twitter’s popularity will last, mostly due to its simplicity.  “It isn’t asking much for you to do but write what you think in under 140 characters,” she said.

The new definition of “tweet” may not be in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary quite yet, but with words like “frenemy,” “reggaetron” and “staycation” finding official recognition in 2009, it’s only a matter of time.

“I’ve been considering things starting with the letter M”: magnificent, marvelous, magical, merry, majestic, meritorious. Johnny Depp seems to be fascinated with M words and constantly repeats this line in Alice in Wonderland while playing the Mad Hatter. Yet, none of these M words seem to describe the movie.

The only good thought I had coming out of the movie was that it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. Now I will admit, I thought it would be one of the worst movies I had ever seen, but early in life I learned that some of my favorite movies were the ones I thought would be terrible. So I tried to keep an open mind and I was waiting to be surprised; unfortunately, I’m still waiting.

However, it’s the first movie in 2010 to gross more than $200 million, so I can only assume that people are still fascinated with the new line of 3-D movies that are out, as well as it being a remake of a children’s movie. But the 3-D aspect of Alice in Wonderland is unnecessary and in my opinion makes the movie worse. Also, it’s not a children’s movie anymore and at many times it’s actually a little disturbing; I know of adults who are creeped out just by the previews.

Alice, Mia Wasikowska, is proposed to and runs away to escape only to find herself falling in the rabbit hole to bring her to Wonderland. The Mad Hatter finds her eventually and asks for her help in defeating the Red Queen, who has brought evil times upon Wonderland and stolen the crown.

In the children’s movie, Alice is just an average little girl, but in the new movie she seems rather eerie and bizarre. Wasikowska does a good job of capturing the weirdness of Wonderland, but I’m not sure that it’s a good thing. Had she appeared normal or even acted normal for a while, it would’ve brought tremendous balance to the film that it otherwise lacked.

The overall theme of the movie is to believe in the impossible and follow your dreams. In my opinion, it’s great for a blockbuster movie to have a theme; the only problem is that when I walked out of the theater, my impression wasn’t one of optimism and hope but just of how strange the movie was. It wasn’t until I sat down and thought about the movie that the theme showed its true colors.

Also, something that still boggles me is that I can not place Alice in Wonderland in a genre. It isn’t a children’s movie or a comedy or an action flick or even a psychedelic drama, though that’s the closest I can come. I can honestly say that I do not recommend this movie to anyone. If you’re a fan of the original, you won’t be impressed. If you’re a fan of the recent blockbuster 3-D movies, you won’t be impressed. However, if you like a whole lot of nonsense without a good storyline, you may just enjoy this remake of what could have been a great movie.

Hootie & the Blowfish is a country rock band that became very popular during the second half of the 1990s. Their fame all started with their album Cracked Rear View, their major label debut, released on July 5, 1994. It was the highest selling album of 1995, with 10.5 million shipments that year alone, eventually shipping 16 million copies to retailers by March 31, 1999. It is tied with several albums, all certified 16x Platinum, for the fifteenth best selling album of all time in the United States.

This album really strikes me as a great album because of their two hit songs “Let Her Cry” and “ Only Wanna Be With You.” These songs are about love, in a good way. It isn’t anything depressing like many of the rock songs we hear today. It just has a nice, calm feeling and it gets you thinking of the ones you love most and how you want to be with them. I think when Darius Rucker wrote these two songs, it came straight from the bottom of his heart. I know what he felt, it’s just I don’t have the talent to put these thoughts down on paper and sing it. That’s why I give him ups. I think this is a great album and deserves 5 stars.

Anything that comes from Manchester Orchestra automatically gets put on a pedestal for me. Between the grungy, dirty guitar tones to the aggressive, passionate vocals, this band has won my heart. With the release of their sophomore album Mean Everything to Nothing, Manchester Orchestra unleashed a beautiful, 4 song demo to accompany the album when purchased at a record store. Needless to say, I got my hands on Fourteen Years of Excellence – and I haven’t stopped listening since.

Manchester Orchestra’s lead singer and lyricist, Andy Hull, is the main force behind Fourteen Years of Excellence. His lyrics are captivating and vulnerable. The emotions in his voice are best heard in Anne Louise, when he sings, “And I hope that you’ll remember me in heaven / God I hope you don’t remember that in heaven / God I hope that they’ll allow me into heaven / Look what I’ve become.”

Hull has been blessed with the gift of lyricism. Not only does he write all of the lyrics for Manchester Orchestra, he also has a side project called Right Away, Great Captain where he creates an acoustic driven storyline. Right Away, Great Captain is a three album saga from the perspective of a 17^th century sailor who catches his wife in an act of betrayal with his very own brother. Though Fourteen Years of Excellence is a Manchester Orchestra release, the music and lyrics are more up the alley of a Right Away, Great Captain song.

My favorite of the record is It’s Okay with Me, which possesses the perfect mixture of hopeful music with solemn lyrics. Hull’s inspiration, which heavily comes from his ‘Christian upbringing’, is the questioning, the faith and the suffering that comes along with a belief in God. In It’s Okay with Me, Hull pleads, “I am a man that does not have a way / Millions of oceans can show me you say … and I still wait around to see if they’ll let me go / through heaven’s doors, alone.” Also, in Do You Really Like Being Alone, Hull furthers his confusion when he says, “And the Lord made me confront my past / We asked each other to explain the mess / I believed with enough good I’d mend / But any good I had was always simply tepid / And I tried hard to sing like they did / With my arms raised in the air I was praising / You said that when we died it would send / But maybe even Jesus knew that I was faking.” Hull is vulnerable and he lays it all out on the table for the listeners and that’s one of the best parts about the Manchester Orchestra experience.

With this being said, I have nothing bad to say about Fourteen Years of Excellence. The alternative, more laid back version of the single Shake It Out provides a nice change of pace on the record. Although the lyrics can seem dark, they are deep and extremely inspiring. If you are a fan of Manchester Orchestra, you need to get your hands on this short album. If you have never had a Manchester Orchestra experience, I recommend starting with Mean Everything to Nothing; however this is a great alternative.

I am normally a pretty trendy kid. I usually try to follow the latest fads and hysteria; however, I have not been impressed by several of the latest pop culture crazes, particularly the Owl City, Jersey Shore and Kid Cudi movements. As only an occasional listener to rap music, I do appreciate the creativity of the lyrics as well as the production of the beats. Nevertheless, it’s a rare occasion when I find a rapper that I actually appreciate and enjoy. With this being said, I finally gave Kid Cudi a chance, and against all my prior judgment, I found Man on the Moon: The End of Day to be a pleasurable journey.

Surprisingly, Kid Cudi’s lyrics are very metaphorical, emotional and heartfelt. In Pursuit of Happiness, he reflects on the death of his father when he says, “I’m super paranoid, like a 6th sense. Since my father died, I ain’t been right since.” Cudi’s father died when he was 11 years old from cancer and it has deeply affected his personality and his music. The struggles of Cudi’s life have put him in extreme emotional positions, where he writes, “It’s close to go and trying some coke. And a happy ending would be slitting my throat.” Cudi is real and he is not ashamed of his upbringing (he’s originally from Cleveland), his addiction to drugs and his emotional instability. The hip-hop scene needs more artists who put down their guard and become real people with real life problems.

The theme of Man on the Moon: The End of the World is based on a call to society to be more creative. However, the creativity that Cudi is pushing happens to be heavily based on marijuana influence. The entire album centers on his addiction to marijuana and in the song Pursuit of Happiness, Cudi brags, “[I] crush a bit, little bit, roll it up, take a hit.” The main inspiration of his songs come from the dreams he has while stoned, Cudi said in a recent interview. Just when I thought I liked Kid Cudi, I lost an immense amount of respect for him. It turned out that he was, indeed, just like all the other rappers of today.

On a separate note, the actual music on Man on the Moon: The End of Day is very unique to a typical rapper of this generation. While the majority of rap beats today blend together, Cudi collaborates with electro-rock duo Ratatat to produce several of his beats (Alive and Pursuit of Happiness). Other noteworthy songs on the album include the single Day ‘n’ Nite, Heart of a Lion (Kid Cudi Theme Music) and Sky Might Fall, which is produced by label mate Kanye West.

Nevertheless, this album, like any other rap album, becomes repetitive and has its flaws. A large majority of the songs sound the same and Cudi’s voice – though unique – gets old halfway through the album. Man on the Moon: The End of the World is not something I’d be listening to over and over again. Although Cudi is new and fresh and unique, he still supports the basic principles of most rappers through the theme of marijuana influence. However, I will admit it. Kid Cudi is one of the better rap artists in the scene today.